Racism is alive and well in the 21st century, no doubt. My folks are selling their house to move in with me and a good neighbor/friend remarked that his wife said she hoped no black family moves in. I just commented that the house would sell to the highest offer; no matter what. I was a little shocked. I half hope a nice black family moves in and his wife learns to like them. Racism, as stated earlier, is feed by fear and ignorance.
I had quite a social shock when I moved into this neighborhood last year. I was used to being practically the only white guy at the drug store or grocery store or bank. I moved from Sunrise Heights which is dominated by Hispanics. I really was almost always the tallest person at 6' 1" and here in beautiful Kingwood Texas I'm back to being in the majority. Felt really weird for a while. And short. Someone mentioned what we need is more interracial breeding. Slip doesn't like it and he's not alone. I work with a black guy that doesn't seem racist to me at all but for the fact he is offended by white/black relationships. His wife is even worse then he is on this. Racial pride groups like La Raza only make it easier for people to chose mates inside their own race. Unfortunate that. Seems to me La Raza is shaping up to be the next KKK. The Reconquesta has begun. <------joking! dj On Wed, Jul 29, 2009 at 12:36 PM, ornamentalmind<[email protected]> wrote: > > rigsy, if you include blacks and other groups not accepted by 'small > town America' over the centuries, I don't see how 'we' can be seen as > 'gracious'. The Civil War alone would show how schizophrenic 'we' > are...as did Jim Crow, the KKK and other less seemly historical > realities that all too often are ignored by the more 'gentile' among > us. > Many German and Jewish frineds of mine use the term schwartza often > and in a not too friendly way either. > > On Jul 29, 3:53 am, rigsy03 <[email protected]> wrote: >> Yes it does- am thinking of barn raisings, harvesting, sick visits, >> etc. and small town America without over-sentimentalizing them. Often >> there was a common European heritage- Germans, Scandanavians and >> Irish- but just as often there was a polyglot of cultures especially >> when an area became industrialized. Milwaukee is an excellent example >> of the latter. Less harmonious was Chicago and it meat packing and >> steel industries along with its labor and housing riots and slums. >> >> On Jul 29, 3:09 am, ornamentalmind <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> >> >> > “… I agree that our community, local, regional, national or >> > whatever, used to be far more friendly, given to helping one another, >> > gracious, gentlemanly and gentlewomanly, willing to reconcile and >> > forgive….” – RJ >> >> > Jim, while I think I understand your point, I suggest that IF one >> > takes xenophobia (including all forms of racism) into account, ‘our’ >> > history does not support such a Pollyannaish view. >> >> > On Jul 28, 10:45 am, retiredjim34 <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> > > Slip - a very interesting and timely topic. Thanks for introducing >> > > it. >> > > I agree that our community, local, regional, national or >> > > whatever, used to be far more friendly, given to helping one another, >> > > gracious, gentlemanly and gentlewomanly, willing to reconcile and >> > > forgive. Now extremeism, hatred, and revenge seem to be so prevalent. >> > > I think a large part of this change is due to political gerrymandering >> > > - the drawing of political boundaries to encompass only those of a >> > > particluar party, or viewpoint, or attitude. Thus, to get elected the >> > > candidate had to be extreme, and this extremeism had carried over into >> > > our communal life. There are hardly any moderates any more, whereas >> > > when political boundaries used to be drawn without regard to -isms, >> > > moderates got elected and were our leaders. The Supreme Court had an >> > > opportunity to strike down political gerrymandering a few years ago >> > > but did not. So we are stuck in a society now filled with extremeists. >> > > Anyway, that's my two cents. Jim >> >> > > On Jul 26, 3:22 pm, Slip Disc <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> > > > Are we losing the ability to reconcile in the world? Have we slipped >> > > > so far from the understanding of brotherhood, of forgiveness that we >> > > > have simply become a world of hatred and revenge. We are literally >> > > > mortified by the specter of terrorism that is plaguing the world. The >> > > > mindset of terrorism is anchored in the inability to allow forgiveness >> > > > to override anger and instead caters to hatred, anger and violence >> > > > towards those deemed the wrongdoers without regard for the harm >> > > > imposed upon the innocent bystanders. >> > > > Aside from that our culture seems entrenched in the business of >> > > > revenge, we rather employ legal means to inflict suffering upon those >> > > > who we think have done us wrong before we would sit down directly and >> > > > discuss the problems. Politics seems to be leaning more toward >> > > > instilling anger and fears among us which leads to a polarization of >> > > > society while most media seem devoted to divisive and anger driven >> > > > reporting with a general attitude of who is to blame. >> > > > Can we ever stop sending messages attached to missiles, bombs and >> > > > bullets? Our attempts to establish peaceful means of resolution have >> > > > failed miserably because there is never a general consensus on any >> > > > issue. We sanction and punish to no end in order to force change but >> > > > to no avail. People are at war in every quadrant of the planet while >> > > > new agitations are festering in the background waiting to emerge as >> > > > full scale skirmishes.- Hide quoted text - >> >> > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text - >> >> > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text - >> >> - Show quoted text - > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Minds-Eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
